Advocates renewed calls to close the Moshannon Valley Processing Center during a press conference Monday after a man died at the privately-owned immigration detention facility near Philipsburg last week.
Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir, 46, from the African country of Eritrea, died Dec. 14 in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. His death is the second to occur this year at Moshannon Valley, and the third since 2023. In a news release, ICE said he died after experiencing “medical distress.”
The virtual press conference, hosted by the Shut Down Detention Campaign — a group of organizations and individuals advocating for the closure of the Moshannon Valley Processing Center and the end of immigrant detention in the U.S. — called for the closure of the facility, which is owned and operated by the Florida-based GEO Group.
Abdulkadir was described as a beloved Imam at the Islamic Center of Northeast Ohio and a father. Faten Odeh, executive director at CAIR Ohio, said he was a respected member of the Cleveland community. She attended his Janazah, or funeral prayer, and said cars were lined up for many blocks.
“In light of the recent deaths at Moshannon Valley Processing Center, in addition to numerous other reports of loss of life in immigration detention facilities across the country, there is a reason for concern that people are being held under conditions which are detrimental to their continued physical and mental well-being,” Odeh said, adding that there needs to be a thorough and transparent investigation into the deaths and conditions of the facilities.
Abdulkadir was in ICE custody for about seven months and was waiting for a hearing with the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review. Moshannon Valley ‘dangerous’ for detainees, detainee says.
Sereyrath “One” Van, a current detainee at Moshannon Valley Processing Center, spoke during the press conference via a phone call. He said the word “danger” is used to keep people in ICE custody and to “get taxpayers funds to fuel this mass deportation agenda.”
“You want to know what dangerous is? Dangerous is being in detention in Moshannon Valley, not having access to adequate medical care. Being housed with people with severe mental illness is dangerous. Being subjected to solitary confinement for any infraction is dangerous. Being an immigrant walking the streets of the U.S. is dangerous for the reason that any ICE agent can come by just because of the color of your skin or speaking a different language,” Van said.
Adrianna Torres-Garcia, deputy director at Philadelphia-based Free Migration Project, later relayed an additional comment from Van, who ran out of phone time at Moshannon. She said Van recently had an MRI done that showed a tear in his shoulder and said he was denied specialist orthopedic care.
“He just wants us to know that this happens routinely, that people are denied medical care and access, even though, in the ICE communications about these deaths, they end by saying, ‘We provide health care to all of our detainees, etc.,’ They’re just writing stuff, but the practice is that they deny people health care,” Torres-Garcia said.
The group has been pushing for the Clearfield County Commissioners to terminate the contract between the county, ICE and GEO Group, and shut down the Moshannon Valley Processing Center after hearing about poor conditions and other complaints.
Elena Emelchin Brunner, immigrant rights organizer at Asian Americans United, spoke about the complaints they’ve heard from people detained at the facility, along with Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey, and North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan. All are owned by GEO Group and have had recent deaths.
Brunner said those they’re in contact with said the staff ignore their conditions, delay treatment, withhold medical care and fail to provide interpreters for those who do not speak English. This is especially difficult for those coming in with underlying conditions, Brunner said, but illnesses can also circulate quickly in the centers.
“Right now at Moshannon, we know of two community members who are sick with what seems like the same illness that is going around Philadelphia and other parts of this country. They’re reporting coughing, sore throat, shivering and difficulty breathing. Both community members were initially denied medical attention and since been too scared, intimidated or have lost hope in speaking out again,” Brunner said.
About a week before his death, Torres-Garcia said Abdulkadir filed a federal habeas corpus petition alleging deteriorating conditions within the facility, inadequate emergency care access and asked for judicial intervention. A judge denied the emergency motion, she said, and he died a few days later.
ICE said medical staff transported him to the medical department, contacted local emergency medical services and began CPR after Abdulkadir complained of chest pain. EMS personnel pronounced him dead after arriving at the facility.
Zeynep Emanet, civic engagement manager at CAIR Philadelphia, questioned what more needed to happen for the Clearfield County Commissioners to end its contract with GEO Group.
“In this past August, during the last press conference, I also closed it out by asking, after the passing of Chaofeng Ge, how many deaths will it take? Because one is too many, and today, that question is no longer rhetorical. I ask again, how many deaths will it take for Clearfield County Commissioners to recognize that their contracts with GEO Group are not just neutral administrative decisions,” Emanet said. “Every day that this facility operates is a day that the county chooses profit over human dignity.”
Over the summer, advocates held protests against Moshannon Valley, raising awareness of the facility and calling for its closure.
An average of 1,600 people were at the detention center as of Nov. 28, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a data distribution organization founded at Syracuse University. The facility has a capacity of 1,876.